Developing the West Slope
Find out about our West Slope development – a mix of student housing and spaces for learning, socialising and student wellbeing services.
Latest
The West Slope development is under construction - work will be ongoing throughout the academic year 2024-2025 and beyond. Find out more about the impact of West Slope construction works on our existing residences.
View campus development news for updates on our West Slope works.
About West Slope
This development is the next step in our vision of being a better university for a better world and is the most ambitious programme we have undertaken in recent years.
Nestled below the South Downs, the West Slope development will be transformative and create new residential, learning, wellbeing and commercial spaces.
Inspired by Sussex’s original architect, Sir Basil Spence, the West Slope development will borrow colours and textures from the South Downs surrounding us and complement our existing campus architecture while being thoroughly modern in its design and function.
Residences
We plan to add about 1,900 new beds as part of the West Slope development programme. The accommodation will be a mixture of single bedroom villas, apartments and townhouses. We will also build new two-bedroom family apartments and fully adaptable rooms with carers’ rooms.
Wellbeing
In the creation of a new Health and Wellbeing Centre, we will be able to offer an integrated therapeutic space, Primary Care Network services, and community services. The centre will break away from the traditional clinical feel to create a welcoming, accessible and safe environment.
Social spaces
New social and retail spaces will be created as part of the West Slope development. A new supermarket and cafe will enhance our commercial offering to students, giving better access to everyone.
We will also build a brand new children’s playground next to new family accommodation, giving families a space to gather, play and enjoy their surroundings.
Accessible for all
We want everyone to have access to the same facilities and experiences when they are at Sussex.
Many of our buildings are historically challenging to access. The new West Slope development creates an opportunity to build with access as a priority.
Step-free routes will have gentle gradients. Internal and external lifts and bridges will connect different spaces offering a more universal experience to our students and staff.
How it will look
One Planet Living has underpinned our design of the West Slope development.
Our architecture will be sympathetic to its surrounding nature and we will endeavour to use sustainable materials in construction and integrate sustainable technologies to help reduce waste and reduce the impact of running our new facilities.
We will preserve as many trees as possible and relocate or replace any felled trees and plant new trees to increase the overall number.
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The whole precinct should have the ‘sense of a university’ and should, if possible, grow out of the soil of Sussex to become a natural part of this beautiful site.” Sir Basil Spence
Architect of the original Sussex campus buildings, 1961
We will also use green roof technology to encourage biodiversity in our soft landscaping.
Water conservation and a waste management will also be thoughtfully engineered throughout.
Read more about how important sustainability is to the University.